Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry has released the invitation from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that President Laura Fernández says she never properly received. The document raises more questions than it answers about who knew what, and when.
The ministry gave a copy to San José daily La Nación on Friday, 9 October, after the newspaper asked about it. Rubio’s invitation asked Fernández to attend a Shield of the Americas meeting at U.N. Headquarters, 405 East 42nd Street in New York, at 2 p.m. on 22 September. Registration was due by 19 September. The ministry said it was “sharing the respective invitation sent virtually by the State Department, passed on through ordinary diplomatic channels.” It hasn’t said when the invitation arrived or when it went to Casa Presidencial.
A Minister Dismissed
Fernández didn’t attend. On 22 September, she was in Barranquilla, Colombia, for security talks with Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella. Two days later, on 24 September, she dismissed Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar, who had led Costa Rica’s delegation in New York.
Casa Presidencial gave a blunt explanation: “Tovar attended the session without giving prior notice or informing the President of the Republic of his participation.” It said his negligence caused “great strategic damage” by keeping Fernández out of the session. At an official event at the Golfito marina on the southern Pacific coast, she apologised to U.S. Ambassador Melinda Hildebrand for missing the meeting.
The public record complicates that account. Tovar had spoken publicly about a high-level Shield of the Americas meeting in New York at least since 17 September. Other governments announced their plans openly, too. Paraguay said on 18 September that President Santiago Peña would attend, and the Dominican Republic listed President Luis Abinader’s participation the next day. In a 21 July interview, Fernández herself said she would skip the U.N. General Assembly to focus on issues at home.
Tovar hasn’t given his account. Apart from a brief farewell message, his only public comment has been a Bible verse on X: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He hasn’t answered La Nación’s interview requests.
What the Document Shows, and What It Doesn’t
The invitation was addressed to a head of state or government and sent in Rubio’s name. It confirms that Washington used ordinary diplomatic channels and that the invitation reached the ministry. But it doesn’t establish that Fernández saw it. She has blamed an “error” in passing the invitation to her, but hasn’t said who received it or when. Without arrival and forwarding dates, it’s unclear whether she or her staff could have replied by the 19 September deadline.
The Coalition Behind the Meeting
Donald Trump launched the Shield of the Americas on 7 March 2026 in Doral, Florida, according to San José news site Delfino. The U.S.-led coalition’s agenda covers organised crime, drug cartels, irregular migration and the influence of outside powers in the hemisphere. The 22 September session was its second meeting.
Rubio said Trump would join later. Trump arrived after the session began and led part of it. The invitation card doesn’t mention him. The State Department’s public schedule, released the evening before, listed only Rubio’s meeting with Shield heads of state and foreign ministers. CR Hoy also reported that the official agenda didn’t mention Trump.
The 15 participating governments issued a joint declaration against 24 groups they described as narco-terrorist. They also said they would seek a consultation at the Organization of American States under the Rio Treaty, a 1947 mutual-defence pact. Fernández won Costa Rica’s 1 February 2026 election for Pueblo Soberano, the governing party aligned with her predecessor, Rodrigo Chaves.
Nothing in the reporting suggests Costa Rica is leaving the Shield of the Americas. No visa, travel, trade or investment rules have changed because of the dispute.
Why This Matters: A cabinet minister lost his job over a meeting that officials had announced publicly. Yet the government still hasn’t said when its own ministry received the invitation or when it reached the president’s office. Without those dates, citizens can’t judge whether the dismissal was warranted or whether the failure sat elsewhere in the chain. Democratic accountability depends on that basic transparency, especially when the stakes include a regional security pact covering cartels, migration and a possible Rio Treaty consultation. Costa Rica’s seat at that table, and who speaks for the country there, are matters the public has a right to see handled openly rather than through unexplained firings and a Bible verse.